


To Fatherhood!

by Ladyofwarandmercy



Category: Space: Above and Beyond
Genre: Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-19 22:50:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2405780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladyofwarandmercy/pseuds/Ladyofwarandmercy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set at the end of the Chig Wars, where the Chigs get a new colony in Earth space in return for an end to hostilities. Hawkes, West, Phousse and Wang meet at the Tun on the Saratoga, and Hawkes has some news!</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Fatherhood!

Cooper Hawkes wandered back to where the other former Wildcards were seated at The Tun. While Hawkes, West, Wang, and Damphousse were posted somewhat close to one another, their schedules only rarely let them all meet together. Wang and Damphousse stayed aboard the _Saratoga_ , while Hawkes and West both had squadrons of their own aboard the _Ronald Reagan_. Both carriers had spent the past year on joint patrols over Morrigan with its new residents. It was hard for the old war veterans to get used to patrolling _alongside_ Chigs, rather than shooting at them. McQueen ended up an instructor at Top Gun along with Vansen, or rather Vansen-Hawkes. Cooper had just ended a rather momentous phone conversation with his wife. 

West was the first to notice the bewildered face on his shipmate and best friend, along with the small, black vidframe in his hand. He sprung from the table with a grin the size of the Solar system on his face. “No way, Coop! Are congratulations in order here?” Cooper shrunk back, with a mystified look on his face. “I didn’t even tell you guys yet. How did you know, Nate?” The table burst with laughter and congratulations. After a moment, West smiled and said, “I could claim mystical powers, but I’ll just go with the truth. You look like I did about a year and a half ago after a certain conversation with Kylen.” Captain West turned to the bartender, “Another round for the ‘Cards, and drop a sake bomb in the one for Big Daddy!” West patted Hawkes on the back to indicate. 

As they all sat down, Hawkes pressed the button on the vidframe to start the video Shane had sent him of the ultrasound. Immediately, Damphousse noticed, “Cooper, am I seeing double, or—“ It was Hawkes’s turn to grin. “Nope, we’re having twin girls. All healthy according to the gene doc. Shane’s not going to need virotherapy like Kylen did.” Suddenly, he remembered that virotherapy was a sore subject with West. “Oh no, I’m sorry, Nate.” The genotype of little Neil West showed a tendency for him to have a deathly allergy towards a common protein. Minor pollen allergies were generally not worth the expense and potential complications for mother and child that virotherapy entailed. But a peanut allergy was worth infecting Kylen in order to “fix” Neil. Kylen had developed pneumonia from the therapy, and had to spend the majority of her pregnancy in the hospital. While both mother and son turned out okay, Nathan and Kylen had given up on the dream of the large family they had hoped to have.

West shook his head, “Don’t worry about it, Coop. In fact, one of the things we’re getting in this trade is a big boost in medical technology. Chig virotherapy is decades ahead of our own. In fact, and you guys are the first to hear it, Kylen and I are going to try again, because the new stuff is much safer. After all of us killing one another, the Chigs are going to help Kylen and me have a bigger family.” The beers had arrived. Cooper’s had a small cup of sake suspended by chopsticks over the rim. Cooper dropped the cup into his beer, raised his glass, and toasted, “To irony!” West raised his own glass, “To fatherhood!” The entire table clinked glasses and drank.


End file.
